Police Hold Active Shooter Training Exercise

WINTERVILLE—Pitt Community College police officers trained this month on how to respond to an emergency involving an active shooter on campus.

The exercise was held in the Raymond Reddrick Building Aug. 8, during a break between semesters.

With students and faculty volunteering to play the roles of victims and suspects, PCC Police Chief Alan Edwards said officers were presented with multiple scenarios as part of the exercise – everything from a single shooter to multiple gunmen to situations involving hostages and dynamic room entry. The number of officers participating in each scenario varied to better simulate a real-life emergency response, he said, adding that this year’s training included mock explosive devices and the sounds of crackling gunfire.

“We train with the hope that we will never have to utilize the tactics we are learning,” Edwards said. “But should an incident occur on our campus or in a neighboring school and we are called to respond, we will be prepared to answer that call.”

Because active shooter training tactics are universal in nature, Edwards said officers from different agencies can respond to a single incident and react as a coordinated unit.

Edwards said PCC police officers take part in active shooter training at the college annually. He added that many of them also participate in similar joint training exercises with members of the Pitt County Sheriff’s Department and Greenville, East Carolina University, Winterville and Pitt County Memorial Hospital police departments.